Winter Wonderland

Right.

3:00 am.  Get up to let the dog out.  Open the door.  Shock.   Two feet of snow.
3:06 am.  Back to bed, listen to cats scratching my furniture, throw water bottle at them.
3:15 am.  Start to stress over what I am going to face this morning.
4:00 am.  Get up and get moving.  Coffee, litter boxes, prepare food and water for outdoors.
4:30 am.  Warm clothes, gather strength.
4:45 am.  Start shoveling steps, walkway, path for birdbath and bird feeder. 
4:55 am.  Head out to the first stop on 7th
6:56 am.  Arrive back home to rush to get ready for work.

Number of Times to Shovel Paths to shelters:  14
Number of Times Falling:  2 (once on bottom, second on bad knee)
Number of Cars I saw stuck:  3
Number of Cars stuck in middle of street I helped to shovel out :  1 (nice young black man Josh, trying to get to work - ARC)
Number of Hugs from someone I helped to shovel out:  1 (from Josh - he asked if he could first).
Number of driveways I shoveled out - 1 (Dave, on Parsells, the nice older black man)
Number of shelters I shoveled out - 10 at least (the wind really did them in). 
Number of days that Sparkles has been stuck in abandoned house:  2 (I am praying she finds her way out the basement window).
Number of times I've rescued Hercules from Sixth Street:  2 (this time he was in another abandoned house crying - I clawed dirt and rocks from a basement area and pulled away a board, and out he came).

I couldn't even get to one shelter due to the lack of snowplowing on Short Street.  I was too afraid I would get stuck.  There were many spots that I couldn't leave water at, as I had to shovel and I must have picked up the wind blown bowls and threw them with the snow off the shovel.

I did what I could for the kitties this morning.  Many I didn't see, I couldn't even look for the kittens, as that street was totally unplowed, and looked like a street I could easily get stuck on.  It was terrible.  I wanted so badly to turn around and go back home to bed.  But I just kept moving.  I just kept pushing myself.  It was a test of my own endurance, stamina and willpower.  I pray we don't have many days like this. 

I need more shelters.  I need more boards.  I need to win the lottery.

This is Jingles (now named Gingersnap), the kitten I rescued her from Garson several weeks ago, and she was combo tested, and brought to a foster home thanks to my friend Julie who runs Another Chance Pet Rescue. News today tells me she has drawn interest frome previous dog adopters through ACPR, and are coming to meet her on Saturday at Petco. Look at my little baby! And they ALWAYS WILL BE my little baby, every cat I rescue!